Ukrainian Museum Claims It Owns a Portrait of a Venetian Doge by Titian

In this undated image issued by Museum of Western and Eastern Art, identified by the source as the signature on a portrait of a 16th Century Venetian Doge, which the Ukrainian museum in the Black Sea port of Odessa claims Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, to be the work of grand master artist Titian. Director of a Ukrainian museum Vladimir Ostrovsky said the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, conducted chemical and X-ray analyses which are claimed to prove Titian's authorship, but authenticity still has to be confirmed by independent art historians. AP Photo/Museum of Western and Eastern Art.

KIEV (AP).- The director of a Ukrainian museum claimed Tuesday that a portrait of a Venetian Doge in its collection is a work of Titian, even as an expert warned that art historians are best placed to make that call.

Vladimir Ostrovsky said the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, conducted chemical and X-ray analyses that prove Titian's authorship.

The portrait is part of a collection at the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in the Black Sea port of Odessa, headed by Ostrovsky, where in July 2008 Caravaggio's The Taking of Christ, also known as Judas' Kiss, was cut from its frame and stolen. That painting is still missing.

"Now we are nearly 100 percent certain that God has compensated us for the terrible loss that we suffered last year," Ostrovsky said in a telephone interview.

But Sergei Androsov of the Hermitage's department of western European art said that only art historians can determine whether the painting is Titian's.

"The analysis shows that the canvas matches Titian's historical period, that the paint used matches his paint, that certain technical attributes match up," Androsov told The Associated Press. "But based on that it is impossible to judge whether the painting is a Titian. That is the work of art historians, not technical experts."

Alexander Kosolapov, head of the Department for Scientific and Technical Examination at the State Hermitage, said the painting was given to the Odessa museum from the State Hermitage about 25 years ago.

"We know it is a 16th century Venetian painting, most likely either by Titian or Tintoretto," Kosolapov told the AP. "But right now it is not fully clear."

Ostrovsky said the museum has invited art scholars from Moscow to further analyze the work. He did not allow the painting to be photographed in Odessa, but provided photos of what he said was the painting, showing a signature with the capital letter "T''.

After the theft of the Caravaggio the museum is taking extra security precautions with the painting, but will still send it for exhibition abroad if its authenticity is confirmed, Ostrovsky said.

"Some people told us not to do anything with the Titian. But as they say, you can never stroll in the forest if you're always afraid of wolves," he said.